#1262: Vance Astro – Masters of Mind

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , , ,

VANCE ASTRO — MASTERS OF MIND

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“With incredible powers of both body and mind, these heroes prepare for any intergalactic mission.”

When the Guardians of the Galaxy first appeared, they weren’t really the team they are now.  Instead, they were kind of Marvel’s answer to the Legion of Superheroes; a team of aliens, each from a different species, living in the year 3000.  The team’s leader was Vance Astro, an astronaut from the 20th Century preserved for 1000 years in order to battle the Badoon.  Theoretically, he’s the same character as New Warrior member Justice, though he’s officially classified as an alternate universe counterpart these days.  Since the Guardians as a whole are a bit more high profile these days, Vance has been lucky enough to get a whole two figures in the last year.  Today, I’ll be looking at the most recent of those!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Vance Astro is figure 3 in the Titus Series of Marvel Legends.  He’s officially named “Masters of Mind,” which is a name he shares with Darkhawk.  It’s far from the worst shared name we’ve gotten.  The figure stands about 6 1/2 inches tall and has 32 points of articulation.  Vance is predominately re-used parts (which is likely the biggest reason he found his way into this series, since it’s pretty heavy on new parts).  He’s built on the Reaper body, which, I gotta say, I’m liking less every time it’s used.  It’s not bad, but it really doesn’t hold up when compared to newer bodies such as the Spider-UK body.  I’m also just not sure it’s the right choice for Vance; sure, he’s usually depicted as being slightly larger than average, but I don’t really think of him as being the same build as Wonder Man or Cap.  I feel like Spider-UK would have been the better option here, but maybe that body just showed up too late in the game.  Vance gets a new head sculpt.  It’s definitely on the generic side, which is appropriate for Vance’s design.  I can definitely see this being re-used for some other characters down the line.  I will say that Vance’s head seems to be much better scaled to the body than a lot of the Reaper-scale heads, so that’s good to see.  The rest of Vance’s details are carried out through paintwork.  The overall paintwork is pretty solid.  I really dig the metallic blue; it’s pretty much exactly how I’d expect the character to be depicted in real life, and it looks really cool.  Most of the line work is clean, but there’s a bit of slop.  The insignia on his chest is slightly out of sync with the outline, and, most noticeably, the white section of his left leg comes to a rounded end, in contrast to the pointed end on the right leg.  It’s rather distracting.  Vance includes Captain America’s shield, which is a more than appropriate extra, since he’s been carrying Cap’s shield in the comics for quite some time.  Of course, he uses a different shield mold than the last several Caps (it’s the same as the one used for Red Guardian and Taskmaster, so it’s really the go-to knock-off Cap shield), but it’s the thought that counts.  Maybe the sculpted edges get rounded down 1000 years into the future.  He also includes the left leg of Titus.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

My fandom of the classic Guardians is largely via my Dad, who’s more of a fan of them then I.  I think I’ve read a handful of their appearances, and I’m a fan of the characters for sure, but they aren’t at the top of my list.  So, while I wanted a Vance at some point, he wasn’t a figure I had to have.  So, when I found both him and Nova at Toys R Us, and could only really afford to grab one, I went for Nova, hoping to come back for Vance later.   Of course, Super Awesome Girlfriend was there with me, and she doesn’t really stand for me putting figures back, so he ended up coming home with me anyway.  Vance isn’t without issues, but he’s still a decent figure overall.  Here’s hoping we can get the rest of the classic team!

#1261: Marvel’s Nova

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , ,

MARVEL’S NOVA

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Sam Alexander searches the galaxy for his father as the Nova Centurion, Nova.”

Does that bio seem a little redundant to anyone else?  I think it’s the two uses of “Nova” so close together.  Maybe it would flow better if they dropped “the Nova Centurion” all together.  Ah, look at me, critiquing the bio.  As if that actually has any impact on the figure, right?  I’ve actually reviewed five Nova figures on this site already, which is a surprisingly high number, if I’m honest.  I mean, I like Nova and all (mostly due to the closeness in concept to the Green Lanterns), and he makes for some good toys, but five just seems high.  Anyway, here’s another one.  Today’s Nova is the latest Marvel Legends offering of the character, based on the second Earth-based Nova, Sam Alexander.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Nova is figure 6 in the Titus Series of Marvel Legends.  Unlike Drax and Star-Lord (the last two figures I reviewed from this series), Nova’s not based on the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, but is instead comic book-based.  I guess Hasbro just likes putting comic-based Novas into the Guardians assortments.  The figure stands about 5 3/4 inches tall and he has 32 points of articulation.  Sam’s built on the teen male body, which was introduced with the Ultimate Spider-Men figures from the Space Venom Series.  Of course, the Space Venom Series didn’t actually show up around me, so Sam’s the first figure I’ve gotten on this body.  The body feels a lot like the Pizza Spidey body, but scaled down a bit.  It’s a very nice sculpt; he actually looks like a guy in his teens, rather than a shrunken adult, which is a definite plus.  Nova uses the arms, legs, and hands from the base body, with unique pieces for his head, torso, pelvis, and forearms.  The head is made of two separate pieces: one for his helmet, and one for the underlying face.  They handled the Richard Rider Nova the same way, so it’s good for consistency, and it also adds some nice dimension to the sculpt and makes sure the change from helmet to face is appropriately sharp.  Sam was originally drawn by Ed McGuiness, who definitely has his own flair to his art; like with Kamala, Hasbro’s managed to keep some of McGuinness’s influence, while also tweaking Sam to fit in with the rest of the line stylistically.  The rest of the new pieces are all pretty solid work as well, and I really appreciate that Hasbro actually went the sculpted route for most of the costume details, especially when they could have very easily just painted them on.  Speaking of paint, the work on Nova is pretty much on par with Hasbro’s upward trend of paint these days.  There’s still some slight bleed on some of the edges, but overall he’s pretty sharp.  I like the shade of gold used here; it’s nice and metallic, but preserves a lot of the yellow that’s sort of necessary to keep his look consistent with the comics and prevent him from being too drab.  I also appreciate that the dark sections of the costume are actually a very, very dark blue, rather than black.  It’s a minor change, but the artist in me likes that he matches up just a tiny bit more with the Richard Rider figure.  In addition to the usual Build-A-Figure piece (Titus’s torso), Sam has one other extra, which is actually a whole second character.  Yes, he includes The Phlish, who was one of the Supernovas that served alongside Sam’s father Jaime when he was a Nova Corpsman.  Really minor character, but a really fun addition nonetheless.  I only wish he included a flight stand of some sort, as he just leans on Sam’s foot at the moment.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Sam was one of the figures I knew I wanted from this set pretty much as soon as he was announced.  While I’ve not followed his solo adventures really closely, I’ve loved him as a part of Waid’s Avengers and Champions books, and since Hasbro seems to be releasing the rest of those teams, I knew I needed him.  I ended up finding him at my nearest TRU not long after grabbing Star-Lord and Drax.  He’s simple, but very effective.  Definitely a strong Legends release, and that’s saying something, given that he’s in the same series as that Star-Lord figure.

#1260: Drax

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , , ,

DRAX

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Drax the Destroyer travels the galaxy seeking revenge against those responsible for his family’s death.”

Going into the first Guardians film, the only of the title characters I was more than passingly familiar with was Drax the Destroyer.  He was a character with a rather complicated backstory, which proved to be more than could be fully covered in the confines of an ensemble cast movie, necessitating some streamlining.  The problem with streamlining a character like Drax is that he can very quickly end up boring and two dimensional if you aren’t careful.  Fortunately, James Gunn and Dave Bautista worked together and created a character that was an immensely enjoyable commentary on the “revenge-driven noble warrior” archetype.  I loved him in the first film, and it looks like I may love him even more if the trailers for Vol 2 are anything to go by.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Drax is part of the first assortment of GotG Vol 2-themed Marvel Legends, also known as the Titus Series.    He’s based on Drax’s appearance in the second film, but it’s worth noting that Drax doesn’t look to have had much change in appearance since the first time around.  The figure is about 6 3/4 inches tall and has 30 points of articulation.  Drax’s sculpt is mostly re-used from his prior figure.  Given that he was easily the strongest of the original movie’s sculpts and, as I noted above, that his design really hasn’t changed, this is actually quite a sensible bit of re-use.  Three years later, the sculpt still holds up very nicely, and it’s doesn’t look out of place next to the latest Star-Lord, which is no small feat, let me tell you.  He does at the very least get a new head sculpt.  Where the first Drax’s head was more on the calm side of things, this new head gives us a far more intense Drax, as he would look in the heat of battle.  Honestly, this seems more true to a character whose subtitle is “The Destroyer,” so I’m very glad Hasbro opted for this look.  The head is still fairly consistent with the calmer sculpt, as well, so you can still see that they’re the same guy.  Since the sculpt is largely the same, Drax really relies on paint to help differentiate him.  The biggest change is the color of the pants; the first figure was sporting the red pants he got from the Ravagers, but this figure is sporting the blue ones he picked up from the Nova Corps following the first film’s final battle.  It actually brings him a little more in line with the comics version of this design, so that’s pretty cool.  I also think the blue is just a more flattering look for him, so that’s another plus for me.  There’s also been a slight change in the pigmentation of the skin.  It’s more green here than the last one, which is another welcome change, since I always found that figure to look a bit drab (although, sadly, this means you can’t swap heads between the two).  This time around, the finish on the figure is also a whole lot less shiny, which makes him look just a lot better as a whole.  Drax is packed with the same pair of knives included with the first figure, which are still very nice.  He also includes a rocket launcher (which looks to be the same one he was carrying in the first movie), as well as the left arm of Titus.  I wouldn’t have minded another head (either the calm one or a laughing one) to make up for all the re-used parts, but the launcher’s a nice addition, and he doesn’t feel too light on extras.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Despite liking the character a lot, I didn’t initially plan on picking up Drax, given just how similar he was to the first release.  I ended up getting him from Super Awesome Girlfriend, who picked him up for me after feeling sorry that I wasn’t having much luck with the Warlock Series.  I gotta say, having him in hand, I feel the purchase was warranted.  He’s very similar to the original, but the small changes they’ve made really add up, and result in a figure that just feels like a step up from his predecessor.

#1259: Colossus

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , ,

COLOSSUS

MARVEL BOOTLEGO

Hey, remember when I reviewed those knock-off Lego mini figures last week?  Well, how about one more?  Last week’s mini figures were based on Game of Thrones, which is a property that Lego doesn’t, and never plans to, hold the license for.  Today’s focus, is a slightly different story, hailing from the Marvel side of things.  Of course, it’s still a character that doesn’t yet have an official Lego figure, which is why I’m reviewing a less legitimate version.  Without further ado, here’s that merry metal mutant, Colossus!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

As noted in the intro, this guy’s an unofficial product.  As such, he’s not strictly part of any series or assortment.  Also, unlike the prior BootLegos, he’s not part of a larger set that I can find.  The figure’s about 3 inches tall and has 5 points of articulation (though, there’s not really much movement in the neck, thanks to the hair).  If the height didn’t already cue you in, he’s patterned on the “Big Fig” body that was first introduced for the Avengers mover version of the Hulk.  While Colossus is usually depicted a little slimmer than the Hulk, this is actually how the character was depicted in Lego Marvel Superheroes, which gives him an extra sense of officialness, since any legit Colossus seems likely to be built this way.  What I personally find interesting is the fact that this guy’s a wholly original sculpt.  Every other one of these I’ve picked up has uses stock Lego pieces, but this guy’s totally unique.  I’m honestly curious if there’s actually a Colossus in the works from Lego, since it just seems odd for this one figure to be all-new.  If he really is a unique sculpt, he’s a very good forgery.  The sculpt is pretty solidly done, with all of the proper details outlined.  The only real issue I have is the hair, which has actual texture, which just doesn’t seem right for Colossus; it really should just be smooth.  A closer look at the piece makes it look like it might be an upscaled basic spiky hair piece, modified to fit the body.  That would certainly explain the extra details.  As nice as the sculpt work is, the paint does seem to be a slight step down.  red seems a bit deep in shade, and the edges are all pretty sloppy.  There’s also a splotch of red on his right arm, which is super distracting.  Lego’s well-known for their high standards of quality control, so this guy’s lack of said QC kind of shatters the illusion.  I mean, he’s not terrible, but he could be better.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I picked up this guy at the same time as the GoT mini figures.  The vendor had a special deal for three basic mini figures and one Big Fig, which is what I opted to go for.  Colossus is one of my favorite X-Men, so I was hardly going to turn down the chance to get a Lego version of him.  He’s not quite as good as the other three, but he’s still pretty fun!

#1258: Robotman

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , , , ,

ROBOTMAN

DC UNIVERSE CLASSICS (MATTEL)

Wasn’t I just talking about DC Universe Classics a few days ago?  Okay, technically it was only in passing, since Catwoman was actually from one of the spin-off lines.  The main line is particularly noteworthy due to just how deep into the DC Universe it went (something that may have contributed to its downfall in the end, unfortunately).  One of my personal favorite subsets from the line was the Doom Patrol, who are one of my favorite DC teams.  I’ve looked at Negative Man and Elasti-Girl, but now it’s time for me to take a look at the team’s final founding (and most consistently present) member, Cliff Steele, better known as Robotman!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Robotman was released in Series 10 of DC Universe Classics, which was the second Walmart-exclusive series in the line.  He was the first member of the Doom Patrol to be released, which was rather sensible, as he’s probably the most popular of the main three.  The figure stands about 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 23 points of articulation.  There are a few different Robotman looks to choose from, but Mattel went for his classic ‘60s design.  It’s definitely a wise choice; it’s easily his best design, and it’s one he’s returned to a number of times over the years.  Cliff is built on the medium male body, with his own unique head, hands, and upper torso.  The new pieces all fit pretty seamlessly with the pre-existing stuff, and it all does a really great job of capturing Cliff’s retro-sci-fi design.  The head is a pretty decent piece; it’s not quite as streamlined as Cliff frequently was in his classic appearances, but it’s a pretty close match.  That slightly less streamlined appearance is also there due to the removable scalp, which allows us a view at Cliff’s brain.  It’s a pretty fun little touch, which takes this figure from average to awesome.  The upper those isn’t too far removed from the basic piece, but adds a few of Cliff’s extra robotic bits, as well as the video monitor that allowed the Chief to keep in contact with the team when they were on missions.  Also, since the upper torso includes the ridges above each shoulder, some of the shoulder’s size is masked, thus remedying what I find to be the weakest aspect of the basic DCUC body.  Cliff’s paintwork is some of the cleanest DCUC had to offer.  In the comics, he was always just orange, but here he’s more of a copper sort of color, which looks really slick in person.  The black shorts preserve his robot modesty (and also break up the colors a little bit), and there’s some really sharp detailing on the monitor.  The straps for the monitor are a little rough around the edges, but not horribly so.  Robotman’s only extra was the torso of the series Collect-N-Connect figure Imperiex.  It would have been kind of cool to maybe get an extra robotic Chief head from when he replaced Cliff on one of the missions, since poor Niles was never going to get his own figure.  But, that’s honestly pretty issue-specific, and probably a bit much for a character that was already lucky just to be getting a figure at all.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I found most of Series 10 at retail when it was released, but I never had any luck with Robotman.  It was made worse by the fact that I really needed to find a pair of them, since my Dad’s a huge Doom Patrol fan too.  Fortunately, my good friends at All Time Toys came through for me, and I was able to find two Cliff figures for a reasonable price.  Robotman is a great example of the sort of awesome stuff this line could do when they actually put in the effort.  He’s a lower tier character with exceptional execution, and just a really fun figure all around.  As much as I rag on Mattel, this guy is really one of my favorites, and the whole Doom Patrol set is just really fantastic.

#1257: Black Knight

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , ,

BLACK KNIGHT

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

You know who’s pretty cool?  Black Knight.  He’s one of those characters I just really enjoy.  That’s probably why I own like every action figure version of the character out there.  Of those figures, one of them is a Marvel Legend.  Usually, that’s awesome, but…well, I get to that in a bit.  Without further ado, here’s Black Knight!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Black Knight was released in Series 3 of Hasbro’s first run on Marvel Legends.  This would mark his second figure ever, and it hit almost an entire decade after his first.  He’s not privy to a ton of figures, I guess.  This figure stands about 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 25 points of articulation.  The last two Black Knight figures I looked at were both based on Dane’s classic design, but this one opted for one of his more recent designs, which he sported in the back half of the ‘90s.  It’s more armored than he usually is, and it ditches his cape, in favor of a loincloth sort of thing, and also loses the chainmail for a smoother under armor.  I can’t say it’s my preferred look for him, but it keeps most of the important elements of his usual designs, so I guess it’s not an awful choice.  After inheriting a lot of Toy Biz’s un-used sculpts, Black Knight marked one of Hasbro’s earliest in-house efforts for Legends.  It’s definitely a product of its time, there’s no doubt about that.  He’s got a lot of the hallmarks of Hasbro’s earlier work: the slightly less detailed nature, the smaller stature, and the kind of obvious articulation.  Also, on top of the obvious articulation, there’s some serious limitation on most of the joints, especially at the elbows and knees.  It was a serious step down from the double joints of the prior Legends.  The legs in particular seem rather disjointed from the upper body sculpt; they’re not really to scale with the rest of the figure, and the sculpt just doesn’t feel as refined. With all that said, Black Knight’s sculpt actually isn’t bad, especially given how downhill the line went before the Return of ML re-launch.  The proportions of the upper half of the sculpt are actually pretty solid, and the details on the armor and such are fairly sharp.  The paint on Black Knight (and the rest of the early Hasbro Legends) was pretty by the numbers and bland, if I’m honest.  I mean, there’s nothing wrong with it, per se.  It’s clean and all, but it lacks any real spark, and just looks rather dull over all.  Dane’s design would have really been helped by some metallics and bolder accent work.  The purely molded shades don’t really do the sculpt justice.  Black Knight was packed with his Ebony Blade and a shield, as well as three of the Build-A-Figure Brood Queen’s legs.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

When Series 3 was first announced, Black Knight was definitely at the top of my list.  Of course, I was hardly the only one.  I ended up finding pretty much every other figure I wanted from this series first, because that’s how these things seem to work out.  I don’t actually remember the exact circumstances of how I got him.  I want to say my Dad got him for me, and I’m pretty sure I got him at the same time as Bucky from the same series.  I was happy to have him at the time, but I always knew he was less than stellar. He kind of marked a turning point for Marvel Legends for me: Series 3 was the last series I really sought out, starting a break from Legends that more or less lasted until 2014’s Infinite Series launch.  He’s not a bad figure, and in fact he’s better than I’d remembered him to be.  Still, he’s rather mediocre.  I’m hopeful that Dreadknight’s presence in the SDCC Raft set might signify a new version’s in the works.

*Well, here was the real review, but this guy got all click-baited for April Fools day 2017.  Read the altered version here.

Flashback Friday Figure Addendum #0009: Power Armor Batman

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Flashback Friday Figure Addendum and tagged with , , , , ,

Hey guys!  It’s Friday, and you know what that means!  It’s time for another Flashback Friday Figure Addendum!  Today, I set my sites back on DC, specially Power Armor Batman from Kenner’s Batman Beyond tie-in line!

In the 90s, the DC Animated Universe was in its prime. Kenner held the license for the toys, and they were doing some pretty great stuff too. Batman: The Animated Series got a great line, with the majority of the characters seeing release. Sure, it wasn’t all winners, but it was a decent line.  Superman: The Animated Series came along, and while Kenner didn’t quite have the nice selection that B:TAS had gotten, most of the key characters had been released in their basic looks. And then, there was Batman Beyond. Oh, boy was there Batman Beyond. The show was great, but the toyline released along with it was… strange to say the least. For starters, they never actually released a proper normal Batman, and the supporting cast and villains were pretty much non-existent. They weren’t bad toys per say, but they didn’t do the cartoon justice. Case in point, today I’ll be looking at the line’s release of BB’s alter ego, Terry McGuinness, wearing that red and gray power armor he was so known to wear…

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Okay, officially, this wasn’t a Terry McGuinness figure. He was actually labeled “Power Armor Batman” on the box. Let’s be real here: people didn’t buy this figure because it was “Power Armor Batman,” they wanted the Terry McGuinness head. Anyway, the figure was released in one of the later assortments of the first series of Kenner’s Batman Beyond line. The figure stands a little over 5 inches tall and features 5 points of articulation. Kenner were big fans of the 5 and 5 set-up. From a purely technical standpoint, the sculpted work on the figure is pretty top notch. The circuits in his underlying suit look great, and the head is the spitting image of Terry’s appearance on the show. Stylistically, the figure’s body sculpt is completely wrong for the designs of the show, but it was in keeping with the rest of the line, so at least Kenner was consistent. The paint work is passable, with no real slop or bleed over (though mine has suffered some minor wear). For some reason, they’ve gone with a bright red and gray color scheme. Terry’s Batsuit on the show had red circuitry, so I suppose that’s what they were going for, but the light gray armor is just plain weird. The figure was accessorized with several snap-on armor pieces, a removable helmet, and a robotic bird. It’s red, green and yellow, so maybe they were going for a Robin thing? Yep, according to the package, it’s a strike R.O.B.I.N. Okay then.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Odd variants aside, I was very excited for the Batman Beyond line at the time of its release. I actually recall seeing this figure at the store several months before I actually got one. I saw the figure on a trip to the store with my parents, who told me I’d have to get it some other time. Little did they know that it would end up being one of the harder to find figures in the line. So, months went by, and I just assumed I’d missed my chance at the figure. Then, on another routine trip to the store, I wandered to the toy aisle, where I found this figure, as well as Blight. My parents were more than happy to get them for me this time around. As strange as this line was, I still have a major soft spot for those two figures in particular. Plus, they actually are pretty good toys!

This review was after I’d passed 200, so  for all intents and purposes it’s effectively a modern review.  It remains the only figure I’ve looked at from this line, a whole 1000 reviews later, which means I’ve yet to get a chance to really touch on how odd this toyline was.  I mean, this guy was actually one of the more faithful figures, and he’s still really off.  Maybe Kenner was wanting to keep these figures consistent with Total Justice and JLA?  It’s odd, because they were still running the TNBA line at this point, so you’d think they’d have wanted the two lines to be compatible, right?  I don’t know.

During The Find, I uncovered that damned R.O.B.I.N. sidekick animal thing.  It makes about as much sense as the rest of the line, I suppose.  I also found one piece of the clip-on armor, but sadly the rest of it’s still missing.  Maybe it’ll turn up one day!  At least it was the other arm piece, so he looks a little more symmetrical now.

Oh, and there’s another piece of the Me Half of the Equation that I left out initially.  I noted that I found Blight at the same time as this figure, after looking for both of them for several months?  Well, I actually found Blight first, and eagerly ran back to my parents with him in tow.  When I showed him to them, they, in their wisdom that is far beyond mine, suggested that this guy might be there too.  So, I went back to the aisle, and, sure enough, someone had cleverly hidden him behind the other, goofier Batman variants.  This figure still makes me pretty happy, truth be told, as goofy as he may be!

#1256: Kaylee Frye

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , ,

KAYLEE FRYE

FIREFLY: LECACY COLLECTION (FUNKO)

Okay, remember several months ago, when I reviewed three of the five Funko Firefly: Legacy Collection figures, and I noted in my Zoe review that, while Wash is my favorite character, Zoe’s a close second?  Well, if I’m being totally honest, Zoe does sort of share that close second spot with one other crew member: Kaywinnet Lee Frye, better known as Kaylee, Serenity’s ever cheery mechanic.  Just like it’s hard not to love Wash in all his goofiness, it’s hard not to love Kaylee’s downright genuine  enthusiasm and trust of others, especially in a show as jaded as Firefly.  Kaylee made her way into the world of action figures as part of Funko’s ReAction line, but that figure was…less than stellar.  On the plus side, she got another stab at action figure greatness not too long after, courtesy of the larger Legacy Collection.  Let’s see how that one turned out!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Kaylee is figure #3 in the Firefly: Legacy Collection, which puts her between Jayne and Wash numerically.  The figure stands just under 6 inches tall and has 26 points of articulation.  The Legacy Kaylee is based on the same basic look as the smaller ReAction figure; it’s her standard sleeveless jumpsuit with a colorful shirt beneath it look, which she sported quite frequently on the show. It’s also an exact match for the what she was wearing in the promotional pictures, meaning she matches up with all of the other Legacy figures except for Mal in that respect.  Kaylee’s sculpt is fairly decent.  She’s definitely better than Mal, and more in line with the Wash and Zoe figures.  She’s a little closer to Wash, really, being a bit more on the cartoony side.  It’s not quite as drastic, but she’s definitely got a bit of stylization going on.  That being said, Kaylee still fairs quite a bit better here than she did on the smaller figure.  The head presents a passable likeness of Jewel Staite, and she’s got a nice, friendly smile.  Her features seam a touch more angular than they are in real life, but it’s rather minor.  The body sculpt has reasonable proportions, and she actually looks like a real person, so that’s good.  The details on her clothes are pretty solid; this is definitely an area where she goes just a bit more cartoony, but it actually doesn’t look bad at this scale.  Kaylee’s paintwork is mostly pretty good.  The colors all look to be appropriate matches, and there’s even a wash over most of the sculpt, to help accentuate some of the sculpt’s details.  Even her eyes are actually pretty decent, which is a nice change compared to the others in this set.  Truth be told, I think Kaylee’s the best painted Legacy figure I’ve picked up.  Like her smaller scale counterpart, Legacy Kaylee includes a wrench.  On the plus side, this figure can actually hold it.  Progress!  I wouldn’t have minded something else, since the wrench is really small.  Could they really not throw one of those cheap parasols that you get in drinks or something?  Guess I’ll just have to supply my own…

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Like all of the figures in this set, I passed on Kaylee when she was new.  And then I passed on her for half-price from Think Geek, mostly due to just going for the parity presented by Wash and Zoe.  I had thought about grabbing her from Movie Stop when they were going under, but by the time I got there, all they had left was Mal.  Ultimately, I ended up getting her from the Farpoint Charity Auction.  Not only was she a good deal, the money also went to a good cause, which always makes me feel even better.  I’m glad I finally got around to getting her, because she’s actually a really nice figure.  Funko’s stuff is still very uneven, but when they get it right, they get it right.  *sigh* I guess I need to get around to buying a Jayne now.  Here’s to having the same incomplete Firefly crew in TWO scales!

#1255: Star-Lord

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , , , ,

STAR-LORD

MARVEL LEGENDS (HASBRO)

“Ooga-choka, ooga, ooga”

Wow, I cannot believe it’s been almost three years since the first Guardians of the Galaxy was released.  Of course, I also can’t believe there was a time when the general public didn’t know Groot and Rocket, and when Chris Pratt wasn’t a high profile movie star.  The galaxy’s most unlikely guardians are returning to movie screens this coming May in a film that looks set to at the very least live up to its predecessor, if not surpass it.  Hasbro, seemingly picking up on some of their short-comings with the product for the last few MCU entries, is putting out some of the movie’s product now, so hopefully it’ll still be hanging around when the movie actually hits.  The first assortment of Legends gives us a split of movie and comics characters, and supplies us with half of the film’s titular team.  Today, I’ll be looking at the first figure I grabbed from the set, legendary outlaw Star-Prince Star-Lord! 

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Star-Lord was released in the Titus Series of Marvel Legends, which is the first Guardians-themed Legends series of the year.   There’s one more series confirmed, and possibly a third at some point, depending on how generous they’re feeling.  As of late, Hasbro’s been trying to include one figure in each series of Legends that is a stand alone, and thus not necessary to complete that series’s Build-A-Figure.  Star-Lord is that figure for the Titus Series.  He’s a little under 6 1/2 inches tall and has 32 points of articulation.  The last movie gave us Star-Lord in his long coat, which ended up being a rather short-lived look in the final film.  This figure opts for the short-coated look, which was far more present.  Time will tell which look proves to be the more prominent version in the second film.  While you might assume there would be some parts re-use between the first Star-Lord and this one, this figure is actually 100% a new sculpt.  And what a sculpt it is.  Seriously, and I can’t stress this enough, the pictures don’t do this figure justice.  It’s easily the best sculpt Hasbro has put out in this line, and possibly the best they’ve done in general.  It’s a reeeeeally good sculpt.  The head is a pretty much spot-on recreation of Pratt’s Star-Lord, from the shaping of his facial features, to the slightly unkempt hair and scruffy beard.  I’ve not seen a beard sculpt look this good at this or any other small scale.  The rest of the body is pretty solid too, with super tight detailing on his clothing (the jacket even replicates the real thing’s fine texturing and has a fully defined zipper).  Even the proportions are pretty much perfect.  Okay, the sculpt is good, but Hasbro’s not always known to get the best paintwork on their figures.  That could be this guy’s undoing, right?  Wrong.  The level of detail on the face is nothing short of amazing; you can see the levels of hair on his eyebrows and beard, and even make out his irises in his eyes.  Not to be outdone, the body has all of the important details covered.  The jacket zipper is even painted, unlike on figures from some other companies out there (whose names rhyme with “Shmattell”), and he’s got a fully detailed t-shirt, despite most of it being covered by the jacket.  There’s still some minor slop here and there, but in general the work here is far above what we’ve come to expect from mass market figures.  Star-Lord is packed with his twin Element Guns from the movie, which appear to be the same molds as those from the first figure, but painted a bit better this time.  It takes some work to get them into his hands, but once they’re in he holds them well, and he can also clip them onto his legs.  He also includes his helmeted head, which, like the rest of him is a marked improvement over the one included with the last figure.  Of course, his un-helmeted head is so nice, I can’t see this one getting a ton of use, but it’s still nice to have it.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I found Star-Lord a few weeks back at Target, while searching for the new X-Men Legends.  All they had was him and Drax (well, and the entirety of the first movie Legends assortment, because somebody decided we needed more of those), and I grabbed this guy as something of a consolation prize.  What a consolation prize he was.  This figure is such an immense improvement over his predecessor, it’s not even funny.  I’m not including a comparison of the the two because I’d like the V1 figure to maintain at least some of his dignity.  This is probably the best Legends figure that Hasbro’s ever produced, and is honestly one of the best figures I’ve gotten in recent history.  They’re gonna have to work hard to top this guy.

*Want a Star-Lord of your very own?  This figure is currently in-stock at All Time Toys!  Check it out here.

#1254: Catwoman

Posted by Ethan Wilson in Reviews and tagged with , , ,

CATWOMAN

BATMAN: LEGACY (MATTEL)

Okay, I’ve really been ragging on Mattel recently.  While they’ve probably earned it, I still like to at least attempt to be even handed with my reviews here.  And, for a while there, Mattel was actually my favorite toy company.    I know, that seems like blasphemy, but when they were really in the swing of things with DC Universe Classics, they were kind of my jam.  As with Toy Biz on Marvel Legends, it’s not a line that’s aged super well, but they were top-notch at the time.  The line was even successful enough to get a few off-shoots, including Batman: Legacy, which gave us a few of the Caped Crusader’s allies and foes, all in that DCUC style.  Today, I’ll be looking at that line’s Catwoman figure.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Catwoman was released in the third and final series of Batman: Legacy.  While the first two series each offered a Batman and two supporting players, for some reason Series 3 only gave us Selina and 1st Appearance Batman.  Catwoman was officially dubbed a Golden Age figure, and is seen here in what most would consider her “classic” costume.  It was her first official costume (though it showed up seven years after her first appearance), worn until well into the ‘60s, and it even made a brief comeback in the ‘80s, which means it also works for the silver/bronze age incarnation of the character as well.  The point is, it was one of her longer-lived looks, and it was a pretty solid choice.  The figure stands about 6 inches tall and has 23 points of articulation.  Due to the long hair, the cape, and the skirt, her movement’s rather restricted, but you can still manage to get a few decent poses out of her.  Structurally, she’s built on Mattel’s second attempt at the female base body.  It was definitely a marked improvement over their first one (seen on Katma Tui), and is about on par with he base male body.  It looks more or less like an actual human, which I suppose is pretty good.  She got her own unique head, lower arms, and hands, and made use of Donna Troy’s boots.  She also had a new add-on for her cape, and re-used the skirt piece from Raven.  She was just stealing all of the Teen Titans’ stuff.  Which is probably in character, when you get down to it.  Clever move Mattel.  The new pieces all matched up pretty well with the pre-existing parts, which is good, and they add-up to a nice recreation of the classic Catwoman appearance.  The head is one of the stronger ones from this era, although I really do wish she’d gotten maybe a more sly facial expression.  She looks a little bit dead inside as it is.  As far as the paint goes, this figure’s pretty solid.  An argument could probably be made for he being a tad less magenta, but she doesn’t look awful in that respect.  The base application is all pretty cleanly applied, and there’s even some halfway decent accent work on the face and the skirt.  Catwoman’s only extra was a display stand, which was the same one included with all of the Legacy figures.  It had a label with her name on it, which I guess was nice.  The fact that she didn’t include her whip seems a bit silly, since Mattel already had one on hand from the last Catwoman and this one’s right hand is very clearly sculpted to be gripping that piece.  I feel that would have been a more exciting extra than the stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

After skipping the entirety of Series 1, and then grabbing all of the figures in Series 2, I decided to split the difference on Series 3 and just get Catwoman.  Of course, that may have been slightly motivated by the fact that Batman: Legacy Series 3 were the first figures to hit the $20 mark at retail, which killed my buying buzz a bit.  Still, I was pretty pumped when I found this figure on the pegs at my local Target.  She’s not perfect, but I do think she’s faired a bit better over the years than some of her compatriots.  This was kind of the last hurrah for Mattel’s DC stuff when you get down to it, which is sort of sad.